Man throws 3-year-old son, himself off NYC roof

VERENA DOBNI, Associated Press

By VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press

Updated 10:22 am, Monday, December 23, 2013

The body of Dmitriy Kanarikov, 35, is removed from 425 west 59th street, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2013, in New York. Authorities said they received an emergency call reporting two jumpers from the building around noon. Officers responding to the scene found Kanarikov, 35, of Brooklyn, and a 3-year-old boy on the lower rooftops of two separate nearby buildings.
Photo: David Torres, AP

The body of Dmitriy Kanarikov, 35, is removed from 425 west 59th...

In this Sunday, Dec. 22, 2013 photo, New York Police Department officers police walk in front of a high-rise apartment building where they said a 35-year-old man and a 3-year-old child died after plummeting from the building in New York. The midtown Manhattan building, a short distance away from Columbus Circle and Lincoln Center, is listed as South Park Tower, a rental. The circumstances of the fall are unclear. Authorities are investigating.
Photo: Julie Walker, AP

In this Sunday, Dec. 22, 2013 photo, New York Police Department...

People walk near the entrance to a high-rise apartment building after the New York Police Department said a 35-year-old man and a 3-year-old child died after plummeting from the building in New York. Authorities say they received an emergency call reporting two jumpers from the 52-floor building around noon Sunday. Officers found a 35-year-old man and a 3-year-old child on the ground when they arrived. Police say the man was pronounced dead at the scene and the child was pronounced dead at a local hospital. No identifications have been released.
Photo: David Torres, AP

People walk near the entrance to a high-rise apartment building...

A high-rise apartment building, upper left, is seen after the New York Police Department said a 35-year-old man and a 3-year-old child died after plummeting from the building in New York on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2013. Authorities say they received an emergency call reporting two jumpers from the 52-floor building around noon Sunday. Officers found a 35-year-old man and a 3-year-old child on the ground when they arrived. Police say the man was pronounced dead at the scene and the child was pronounced dead at a local hospital. No identifications have been released.
Photo: David Torres, AP

NEW YORK (AP) — A man involved in a custody dispute who was supposed to turn his 3-year-old son over to the boy's mother instead threw the child off the roof of a 52-story Manhattan apartment building before jumping to his death, police said.

Officers responding to an emergency call reporting two jumpers from the building on the Upper West Side around noon Sunday found Dmitriy Kanarikov, 35, of Brooklyn, and the boy on the lower rooftops of two separate nearby buildings.

The man was pronounced dead at the scene and his son, Kirill Kanarikov, was pronounced dead at a hospital, police said. A witness said the boy was wearing Christmas pajamas.

The boy's mother had custody of the child and the father, who had visitation rights, was supposed to hand the boy over to the mother at a police precinct Sunday afternoon, authorities said.

Luis Ortiz told the New York Post that he was at the hospital when paramedics rushed the boy there and that they were pumping his chest and working on him.

"You could tell he was slipping away. They said the father was up there, but they didn't bring anyone else in. It was just heartbreaking. I have two kids of my own. They tried to do the best they could," Ortiz told the newspaper.